In the past six months, 33 million people leaving and arriving at France’s borders have been screened, “and 17,500 individuals have not been admitted onto French territory,” the minister added.

“At the European level, in large part thanks to France’s initiative, things are moving forward,” he said. Cazeneuve added that close cooperation with Belgian police had led to recent anti-terror arrests, and cited the European Parliament “finally” adopting rules on the exchange of passenger name records for airline passengers in Europe.

Cazeneuve said the decision to extend until July 26 France’s state of emergency, instigated following the November 13 terror attacks that killed 130 people in Paris, was partly based on the country hosting the European soccer championships starting June 10, and the Tour de France cycling race.

“We are mobilizing on a large scale to assure the highest possible security level,” Cazeneuve said, adding that 15 planned attacks had been foiled in the country since 2013.

Earlier this week Prime Minister Manuel Valls announced the government’s plan to counter radicalization, with the creation of a deradicalization center in every region of the country.